VIEWPOINT: Everybody is important; it's all about teamwork

<p>The industry's inner circle has always been plagued by a 'them and </p><p>us' attitude but, of late, it seems that the feuding is growing in </p><p>intensity and the number of factions is on the rise. </p><p><BR><BR> </p><p>In the good old days, when things were much simpler, there were only two </p><p>opposing forces; it was a battle between the creatives and the account </p><p>handlers over who was more important. </p><p><BR><BR> </p><p>The media specialist never entered the fray because they were safely </p><p>locked up in the back room by senior management, if you are to believe </p><p>the words of media people. </p><p><BR><BR> </p><p>But now that the media planners and buyers have eked out a position of </p><p>importance for themselves, they claim they are the most important part </p><p>of the advertising equation. </p><p><BR><BR> </p><p>But it doesn't stop there. </p><p><BR><BR> </p><p>With the emergence of the Internet and all the dazzling business </p><p>potentials it offers, we have interactive agencies which claim that most </p><p>traditional agencies have no idea how to formulate online advertising </p><p>campaigns. </p><p><BR><BR> </p><p>Of course, they are saying that they know best. </p><p><BR><BR> </p><p>Some of them have even joined the side of the techno-geeks by saying </p><p>that technology is more important than content. </p><p><BR><BR> </p><p>Content means the written word, the soundbites, the videos, whether they </p><p>be short clips or entire movies. </p><p><BR><BR> </p><p>The argument over whether content is important can also extend into the </p><p>message in an ad or a commercial. </p><p><BR><BR> </p><p>In a strange, twisted sort of way, however, this bickering is actually </p><p>quite healthy. </p><p><BR><BR> </p><p>Constructive criticism helps us to grow and become more intelligent. </p><p><BR><BR> </p><p>We become better people, hopefully, simply through listening. </p><p><BR><BR> </p><p>However, in the past six months, the criticisms, especially in the cyber </p><p>arena, have become stingingly personal and, therefore, destructive and </p><p>detrimental to the the entire industry. </p><p><BR><BR> </p><p>At MEDIA, we have had occasions where we have had to tell people to tone </p><p>down what they were saying and to not start a smear campaign against </p><p>someone. </p><p><BR><BR> </p><p>So how do we sort all of this out? Let's use content as an example. </p><p><BR><BR> </p><p>The journalist would say content was the most important because this is </p><p>what readers, viewers and listeners want. </p><p><BR><BR> </p><p>The sales people would say they were the most important because they </p><p>generate revenue. </p><p><BR><BR> </p><p>So who's correct? </p><p><BR><BR> </p><p>Both are correct and both are wrong. </p><p><BR><BR> </p><p>If there were no content, there would be nothing to sell. And if there </p><p>were no sales people, there would be no revenue. </p><p><BR><BR> </p><p>In fact, both sides rely on each other to survive. In the ad world, </p><p>cyber people included, this is also true. </p><p><BR><BR> </p><p>So keep the criticism coming but keep it constructive. </p><p><BR><BR> </p>